Women and girls invited to share their views on making Redbridge safer

Women and girls in Redbridge are being invited to attend one of four listening events over the next month to share their thoughts on what they want and need to feel safe at home, on Redbridge streets, and online.

All the events are virtual, with the first taking place on Tuesday (18 May), hosted by Cllr Saima Ahmed. Each event is one hour long, with 30 places, and places must be booked in advance. The events are open to Redbridge residents who identify as women only (non-binary people included).

The aim of the events is to provide local women and girls with a safe and comfortable space to share both their experiences of feeling safe and unsafe and their views on how our borough can be made safer, for example by identifying areas that need to be better lit or pathways that feel unsafe to walk along.

Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal, said:

“We all deserve to feel safe wherever we live, and it is unacceptable that many women in our borough and across the world have experienced harassment, abuse and sometimes even violence.

"Following the tragic death of Sarah Everard there was an outpouring of grief and honest discourse and I pledged then that our council would take time to listen to local women and to act on their wishes, to make Redbridge a safer place for everyone.

"This series of listening exercises are one part of our work to make our borough safer for women and girls, alongside our borough-wide survey, soon to be launched crime commission and domestic abuse help service, Reach Out. There is work to do but we are prepared to do whatever it takes to make Redbridge safe.”

The remaining virtual listening events take place on:

• Monday 28 June 
• Wednesday 30 June 

To join the event please sign up on Eventbrite here. You will receive a link one day before the session. If you don’t receive your link please email our Community Engagement Coordinator, Yusuf Patel at yusuf.patel@redbridge@gov.uk

The events are only open to people who identify as women (non-binary people included). Participants will be able to see our facilitators, but do not have to have their camera turned on. Please be assured all appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that these sessions are safe space and remain completely confidential.

As well as attending the above events women and girls who live or work in Redbridge are encouraged to take part in an online survey. The survey is completely confidential and only takes a few minutes to complete. It can be accessed here.

The survey and listening events directly follow feedback from residents earlier this year which revealed a significant number of women and girls in Redbridge feel unsafe at home, on our streets and online.

Additional steps being taken by the council to make the borough a safer one for women and girls include:

• Establishing the Redbridge Community Crime Commission to investigate and address the root causes of crime, including crimes against women
• Signing the Mayor’s Women’s Night Safety Charter, to prioritise women’s safety at night, and working with local businesses to encourage them to join the campaign and sign the charter
• Appointing Cllr Saima Ahmed as Women’s Champion to lead this work
• Working alongside the police, Transport for London, and other community partners to provide extra reassurance including additional enforcement and patrols in parks plus 24-hour CCTV and ANPR

Cllr Saima Ahmed said:

“I am proud to be championing such an important issue and I’m determined to do all I can to support our women and girls in tackling violence and harassment whether in public spaces, at home or online. I’m calling on all women and girls in Redbridge to be an active part of this journey as we start looking at changes we want to make happen and design an action plan to address the issues impacting us locally. Join me and our partners in the local police and voluntary sector to help make our communities safer – your voices matter, we are here to listen.”